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“Thank you, my lord,” Cassie said as she placed a final pin. “Having several rather opinionated sisters, one gets a good deal of practice at the thing.”

“Your modesty does you credit, Miss Holmes,” Benj said, “but I have several sisters, and I have not these skills.”

Cassie laughed easily and came to Martha’s side, brushing away a thread that remained from a removed bow. “If you’ve an interest, my lord, I shall teach you the way of it at another time. If you will excuse me, I will go inside and rejoin my parents.”

Eliza and Cummings followed her in, both grinning at Martha before they did so.

Martha moved to do the same, but Benj took her hand, holding her back. Heart pounding, she looked up at him, afraid and thrilled at the pressure he exerted.

His smile had faded some, sitting barely present on his lips but abounding in his eyes. “You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen,” he confessed without hesitation. “I can barely speak, Martha.” He brought her hand to his lips, kissing the back of it, then turning it over and pressing his lips to the palm.

“You should have seen me when I arrived,” Martha whispered, rambling as her head swam with ecstasy. “Utterly ridiculous, not at all pleasant to see.”

Benj chuckled against the skin of her hand, his eyes raising to hers. “I did see you when you arrived. I’ve seen the whole thing, Martha. I thought you were as beautiful then as you are now.”

Something about the tone of his voice made her tilt her head, even as her stomach burst with a thousand fireworks at his words. “But?”

“But what you’ve done … what you’ve said, why you’ve done it …” He shook his head, his smile spreading further. “Darling, I’ve never admired you more, and I did not think that was possible.”

Darling … The endearment wrapped itself around her heart like a warm blanket, brought tears to her eyes that she prayed would not fall, and had her tugging his hand to her own lips for a quick brush of affection.

They could not share a kiss in truth with the assembly room windows so near, but this …

“Dance with me, Benj,” Martha pleaded, clinging to his hand as much as she dared. “As many times as you like, no matter what anyone says.”

He nodded, offering his arm to her. “Things are not as structured in Chippenham as they are in London, Martha. There is a great deal more freedom when it comes to dancing. One might dance three or four dances with the same lady and think nothing of it, gentlemen dancers being as scarce as they are in the country.”

“Such a trial for local society,” Martha tsked, shaking her head playfully as they entered the building. “However does one manage with such a limited selection?”

“They seem to manage well enough.”

Once their outerwear had been taken, they made their way into the rooms themselves, and Martha felt her heart begin to dance within her just as the other guests were doing before her eyes.

“Martha.”

She looked up at Benj, the catch in his voice making her breath stop. He had never looked more handsome than this, his fine evening wear no less striking than on any other figure she had seen in London, though somehow more perfect on him than ever seen before. His hair was dark and neat, a hint of shadow across his jaw where the stubble would appear in the morning, but for now he was only glorious.

“Benj,” she whispered, smiling as she did so.

His look was a kiss in itself. “Candlelight makes you a goddess, darling. Nothing less.”

How did one survive a night such as this?

She was spared the necessity of words by Benj leading her into the dance, sweeping her away as though they were the only two people in this room, in this dance, possibly in the entire world. There was nothing like it, and that was the best part of it.

Nothing could compare.

They barely said a word as they danced, rather gracefully, as it happened, and the music was just as lost on Martha as the other dancers. There was only the touch of Benj’s hand, the smile on his lips, the adoration in his eyes.

If this was not love, she wasn’t certain what was.

And this … this was worth refusing safe proposals.

Should Benj have any such ideas in his head, of course. It was rather soon. But they had weeks before her return to London, and in that time, a great many things could happen.

“Martha.”

The sound of her name in a voice that was definitely not Benj’s startled her out of her bliss and back into the crowded assembly rooms.